Marc Marquez takes last second pole position in Portugal with a new all time lap record… again
Marc Marquez #MarcMarquez
Marc Marquez secured pole position for this Portuguese Grand Prix at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve (AIA). The eight times world champion managed to impose his will in the final moments in a very exciting Q2 and where nothing was guaranteed until crossing the checkered flag. Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin were in the top three.
After yesterday setting a new record with a time of 1:37.709s, Jack Miller managed to set a new record at the Portimao track. The first five minutes of this Q2 hadn’t even been completed yet and the Red Bull KTM Factory Team rider had set a fast lap in 1:37.549s with two soft tyres.
However, behind the australian was Francesco Bagnaia with a delay of 0.156s for the #43 KTM and it was a matter of minutes before the #1 was beaten by Jorge Martin. In the colors of Prima Pramac Racing, Martin set a time of 1:37.630s and was ahead of Bagnaia by 0.075s. With six minutes to go, the timesheet looked like this:
Two minutes later, only Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez were ready to take to the track while all the other riders were looking to set competitive laps. Bastianini entered the track and behind him the italian saw Marc Marquez.
Miller had a minor crash at turn three and Bagnaia was provisionally on pole position with a time of 1:37.290s; he beat Miller by 0.259s. Even when there was less than a minute left, everything was uncertain, as the last riders were able to do sectors in red.
In the end, pole was even won by Marc Marquez who moments before was in the last positions. With a time of 1:37.226s, the spaniard set a new record on the Algarve track. Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin secured the front row.
Times:
